Gay Dwarves? Why Not?
There's a fascinating read in Salon about Turbine's decision to remove marriage altogether from the newly released Lord of the Rings Online because they couldn't tackle the issue of gay relationships.
Turbine claims that the decision has a lot to do with the desire for authenticity, i.e., staying true to the source material. However, as any Melville scholar can attest, claiming that Tolkien doesn't explicitly allow gay characters in the trilogy doesn't get them off the hook. I've read the books (and, of course, seen the movies), and there are--at a minimum--elements of the homosocial in both. Could anyone over the age of consent not at least consider the possibilty that Sam and Frodo's compelling, tender, and heroic love for one another is homoerotic?
I found it interesting to discover that gay marriages have been in computer games since Fallout 2 in 1998.
Kudos to game designers like Timothy Cain with Interplay who insist on letting players decide what kinds of relationships they build online. In-game marriages are a commonplace. The article quotes noted gaming researcher Nick Yee, who points out that 23% of EverQuest players role-played falling in love in the game. Notwithstanding Turbine's desire to remain true to the source material, MMORPGs are rife with sexual role playing (and homophobic players). A game without restrictions that defaults to letting players decide for themselves seems like the best policy.